The concept of Brook as a skeleton musician, had already been thought up by Oda the first time he drew Laboon. Brook's overall design, however, was not finalized back then but the basic idea was kept for a long time until Brook was finally revealed.[17]
Anime and Manga Differences
Takoyaki
In the anime, when Brook first joined the Straw Hats for dinner, the dinner that was being served was a banquet of varied octopus-based cuisine, among which were Takoyaki balls made by Sanji.[18]
While this scene does not differ from the manga much due to the dinner's food not being specified in the latter, it does provide a possible contradiction to what is stated in the manga in a later scene. Namely, when Brook and the rest of the Straw Hats enjoy some Takoyaki as a reward for saving Hatchan, Brook states that it was the first time he enjoyed Takoyaki.[19] However, it is only a possible contradiction, as Brook is not seen partaking of Sanji's Takoyaki.
Duels with Ryuma
The flashback of the first duel between Brook and Ryuma is handled differently in the manga and anime versions:
Originally in the manga, the duel against Ryuma is so fierce that pieces of Brook's bones are broken and fly off in the process as he takes hits from the zombie.[20] While the duel is much longer with more moves portrayed in the anime, it is noticeably less violent by the fact that though Brook is attacked by Ryuma, there is only one instance where a few pieces of bone are broken off by the attacks.[21]
The duel ultimately ends violently with Ryuma stabbing his sword through Brook's skull and creating a huge crack which fortunately "healed" over time. The duel in the anime ends considerably much different with Ryuma threatening to stab Brook's skull instead of stabbing through it like in manga.
While the anime portrayed the fight in the flashback less violently, it however portrayed the rematch between the two with the same intensity as in the manga. It showed scenes wherein Brook was stabbed by Ryuma with normally fatal but otherwise bone cracking strikes.[22]
The end of the duel (manga version).
The end of the duel (anime version).
Tea Cup
When informing Luffy's group on what transpired on the Thousand Sunny as it docked near Punk Hazard, his Jolly Roger on his tea cup is different. Neither are identical to his pre-timeskip personalized Jolly Roger, with the manga depicting his cane twice and is missing his top hat, while the anime shows the classic crossbones.
In the 4Kids English dub adaption of the anime, the sequence in which the Straw Hats encountered Laboon was cut for various reasons. Due to this, aside from parts of the story being changed in order to coincide with the cut, a plot hole was created in the 4Kids version of the anime concerning an integral part of Brook's character, namely Brook's relationship with the whale. Though the 4Kids dub stopped at the start of the Jaya Arc, the plot hole created still stands. At the time it was not known that Brook was planned to be a member of the Straw Hats; however, had the 4Kids dub continued, it would have left Brook with little reason to join their crew.
Like other members of the Straw Hat crew, Brook has his own personal jolly roger: it is a skull without a jaw with Brook's trademark afro, a top hat, and a cane in place of the crossbones mark. His jolly roger is also shown on his travel mug and tea cup. His jolly roger was seen worn by one of fans.
Oda has also revealed a post-timeskip jolly roger. The design for this one includes a full skull and an afro, with his new glasses and hat. His afro and skull are encircled by bones with his single guitar as his cross-bones in the background.
During the beginning of the Punk Hazard Arc Brook is seen drinking from a tea cup with a slightly different personalized jolly roger. The anime adaptation shown yet another version.
A mug with his two canes jolly roger can be seen in Hands Up! while Brook play on the deck of the Thousand Sunny.
Brook is the oldest member of the Straw Hats, being 88 years old when he joins them, nearly twice the age of the next-oldest member at the time they joined, Jinbe.
Brook is one of two Straw Hats that was a captain of his own pirate crew, the other being Jinbe.
Brook's height and age before the timeskip, 8'8" and 88 years old, could be related to the usual number of keys on a piano, 88.
Before Brook fulfilled the position of musician, there was a running gag where the crew needed a certain position filled, such as a cook or doctor. When the crew met to discuss this, Luffy would always insist that the position that needed filling was a musician. His reasoning is that pirates love to sing, and a musician is essential to a pirate crew. Luffy's request however would always be turned down by his crew for more practical solutions to the situation.
In Chapter 488 the first digit of his bounty is a 2. This was a mistake by Oda that was later corrected.
Since the introduction of Brook's bounty, there was speculation of whether his 33,000,000 bounty was active or not. In Chapter 600, Marines declared that his bounty was still active, thus ending the speculation.
Brook is one of two Straw Hats to have never ridden aboard the Going Merry, the other being Jinbe.
Brook's unique Laughter Style of "Yoho" is a stereotypical pirate line commonly found in various pirate related pop culture. It originates from “Dead Man's Chest”, the sea shanty from the book Treasure Island.
It is possible a partial inspiration for Brook's backstory came from the poem (and song by the British metal band, Iron Maiden) "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It involves a mariner and his crew who are led out of the fog of Antarctica by an albatross, but the mariner shoots it down and curses his crew into calm waters. Through a game of dice, Death claims the lives of all his crew. Life-in-Death claims the mariner, who is cursed to a fate worse than death by remaining on the bleak, foggy ship alongside his dead crew for ages, forced to relive all their deaths through the looks in their eyes, until finally acknowledging the beauty of life and its creatures, and released from drifting through the fog. He ecstatically jumps for joy when he sees the first living people to approach and take him away, to tell his tale of warning, now a sadder but wiser man.
In the 6th Japanese Fan Poll, he ranked 19th. In the 7th poll, he ranked 26th.
Brook is the only known person to have a wanted poster that is not formatted in the uniform style, instead the World Government used one of his old concert posters, and added the standard "WANTED" and "Dead or Alive", and replaced the "World Tour" with his bounty and the paragraph at the bottom.[24]
In Episode 509, when Brook starts playing the composition to raise the people's spirits, the music played on his violin is the same piece played by Battler, "The song of the horn eaters", from the third movie. The music, however, was originally used to make animals start rampaging, rather than raise people's spirits.
Brook's model sheets in TOEI are named "Blook".
In One Piece Blue Deep: Characters World, Brook's post-timeskip height is said to be 277 cm,[25] 11 cm taller than his pre-timeskip height. This appears to contradict what he said during his fight with Ryuma; that it was important for him to protect his afro because his body had stopped growing.[26]
The idea of a skeleton musician was first conceived by Oda in the year 2000.[citation needed]
Brook's recurring use of skeleton-themed puns and ice-based powers appear to be an allusion to dajare (駄洒落 (だじゃれ)?), or the comedic art of Japanese wordplay; especially in the fact that poorly-made jokes, such as the ones made by Brook, are usually met with reactions by a less enthused audience; which the typical response is to shiver and comment on a sudden chill in the room by saying, 寒い... (Samui?, meaning, "It's cold..."). Dajare is also associated with "old man gags", fitting Brook's advanced age.
An Algerian-born, French-speaking rapper that goes by the stage name Soolking used a sample of Brook's distinct laugh in the intro of his song Guerilla. The rapper's stage name is also inspired by Brook's epithet, "Soul King".
Brook is the first Straw Hat to receive a bounty, as his 33,000,000 bounty was issued decades before Luffy was even born.
Brook was the last of the current Straw Hats to join the crew before the timeskip.
Brook is the only Straw Hat that hasn't met either of Luffy's brothers. Brook joined the crew long after Ace temporarily worked with the Straw Hats, and Brook was not with Luffy at Dressrosa to meet Sabo.
SBS-Based Trivia
Brook's birthday, April 3, comes from his Devil Fruit's name since 4-3 can be derived from yo-mi.[14]
Brook typically sleeps at 12:00 A.M. and wakes up at 5:00 A.M.[41]
If the Straw Hat Pirates were not pirates, then Brook would be a detective.[42]
If the Straw Hat Pirates had a 50-meter race, then Brook would come in first place and win. Oda clarifies that Brook would win in a shorter distance race, because he is light in weight.[43]
When Sanji is in his raid suit, Brook calls him "Enviable Man in Women’s Bathhouse".[44]
During Sacanime September 1-3 in the one piece panel, brook's english voice actor, Ian Sinclair confirmed his favorite one piece arc is Skypiea
↑ 4.04.14.2One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 50Chapter 489 (p. 12) and Episode 381, Brook reveals that he was the leader of the battle convoy of a certain kingdom before joining the Rumbar Pirates, and then his bounty as a pirate.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 86 (p. 98), Brook's favorite food is revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 103 (p. 136), Brook's favorite food from Wano Country is revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 73 (p. 144), Brook's least favorite food is revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 84 (p. 150), Oda reveals which Straw Hats eat ice and which do not.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 79 (p. 142), Brook's favorite dish to cook is revealed.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 99 (p. 60), Oda reveals what kind of fried egg Brook likes.
↑SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 106 (p. 24), Oda ranked the Straw Hat Pirates' tolerance for alcohol.
↑ 34.034.134.234.334.434.5SBSOne Piece Manga — Vol. 50 (p. 86), Brook's favorite type of island and season, specific numbers, specific colors, specific smell, family status and animal resemblance are revealed.